In his book, Mikhail Sergeev puts forward and substantiates his theory of “religious
cycles”, applying it to the whole history of humankind. Within it, a prominent
place among religions is given to the Baha’i faith. Consequently, viewed from this
angle, the book should also be seen as a large-scale and impartial study of this religion
because the author is biased neither for nor against the Baha’i faith. He fits facts
into a logical chain to prove his point. Sergeev should be given credit for the depth
and thoroughness of his analysis as well as for his profound erudition. Nevertheless,
even this approach, in the opinion of the present writer, does not prevent the author
from having a certain “twist” which leads him to some fairly debatable conclusions.
That applies, however, to only a limited number of issues without detracting from
the main merits of the book...